OVERCOMING EVIL BY THE WORD OF GOD

 

In the Word of God we find peace.

Peace is not the absence of problems.

Peace is the presence of Jesus.

Peace is already given to us.

Praise is mandatory for peace.

Jesus is the source of peace.

NOTES taken @ sermon given by Rev Fr Bobby Emprayil
15 March 2023 (Wed), Church of The Holy Family

THE ACCOMPLISHING POWER OF THE WORD
Part 1: The Word of God
Part 2: Overcoming evil by the Word of God

OVERCOMING EVIL

• The reason for the Word becoming flesh is to overcome the devil
• John 16:33  I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
  
• The Word of God brings life
  
• The Word of God brings peace and joy

 THE WORD OF GOD BRINGS THE ARMY OF HEAVEN

• Rev 19:6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God  the Almighty reigns.
• If we want the army of heaven to intervene, allow the Word of God to come into our lives - invite, welcome, respect, honour, love the Word of God

 

  

FINDING PEACE

 In the Word of God, we find peace

 

PEACE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF PROBLEMS

• Peace is not the absence of problems, sickness, trouble suffering, persecution....
  
• That is worldly peace.
• In the world, we will have tribulations, the world will make us suffer.
• We can expect that there will be people "distributing" suffering to us every day
• But do not identify our peace with the absence of suffering and tribulations.
• Scripture says, in the world we will have tribulations, but in Jesus, we have peace.
  

 

PEACE IS THE PRESENCE OF JESUS

• John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 
• When we have Jesus, we have peace.
• When we say we do not have peace, are proclaiming we do not have Jesus.
• Eph 2:14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 
• Jesus is our peace 
• John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
  

FEAR IS THE ENEMY TO PEACE

• Scripture tells us "Do not be afraid" 365 times
• Scripture assures us peace is with us
• John 20:19  Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
• John 20:21  Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you."
• John 20:26  A week later...Jesus came and sood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
• Luke 24:36 Jesus stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
• Blessed are those who announce peace

 

PEACE IS ALREADY GIVEN US

• Peace is already given us
• Isaiah 26:12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.
• Do not allow the peace already given us to be destroyed by suffering.

 

 

WHEN WE ALLOW JESUS TO BE OUR PEACE

 

HEALING WILL COME

• Peace of mind brings health
• Prov 14:30 A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh
• If we keep looking and waiting for the absence of problem, peace will elude us.
• But if we allow Jesus to be our peace, healing will come.

SATAN IS CRUSHED

• When we allow Jesus to be our Peace, Satan is crushed.
• Rom 16:20  The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

 

 

  

PROCLAIMING PEACE

COMMUNICATING PEACE

• Mat 5:9 Blessed are those who communicate peace, they are the children of God.
• Jesus says, whenever we enter a home, we communicate peace and shalom (Mat 10:12)
• When Jesus came into the world, the angles proclaim
• Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he favors!
• Eph 2:14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.
  
•  When Jesus came, God announces peace

 ANNOUNCING PEACE

• Col 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 
• Let the Word of God dwell in us. 
• Peace will rule in all our relationships
• We need to continually announce peace.
• Each time we announce peace, there is glory in heaven.

 

WE ARE SANCTIFIED WHEN WE PROCLAIM PEACE

• 1 Thes 5:23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
• When we receive God as our peace, when we proclaim Jesus is our peace, we will be sanctified in body, mind and soul, in entirety.
• 1 Cor 14:33 - God is not of disorder, but of peace.

 

   WHAT WE HAVE HEARD, DO

• Phil 4:9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
• When we do what we have learnt and received, the God of peace will be with us and work with us.  Satan will be crushed, healing will take place.
  

 

 

PRAISE IS MANDATORY FOR PEACE

• Amidst fire, even if we are thrown into fire, peace is not destroyed, because Jesus is peace and we have Jesus inside us.  We can continue to praise God.
• Praise is an expression of peace
• Thanksgiving in the midst of suffering brings glory to God in heaven

 

 

 

GUARDING AGAINST BECOMING SATAN'S AGENT

WHEN WE COMPLAIN WE BECOME AGENTS OF SATAN

• When we complain, when we accusing others of destroying our peace, we are engaging in the ministry of the devil.
• When we keep accusing and complaining that people have done this and that to us, we are glorifying Satan.
• Do not communicate these accusations and complains.
• Communicate only peace, and only those things that bring peace.
• Take care to glorify the Lord, not Satan.
• Take care  not to become an agent of Satan. 
• We should be peace makers, proclaiming peace.

 

DO NOT ALLOW OUR PEACE TO BE DESTROYED

• John allowed Jesus to be his peace, even in the deepest trouble, in prison, in fetters, his peace was not destroyed.  Then miracles happened.
• Often our problems are small in comparison to John's, and yet we complain that our peace is gone.
• We focus on all the what if's in life, we are engulfed by fear and anxieties, 
• We have not kept Jesus inside.  We have not allowed his peace to fill us. 

 

NOTHING FROM OUTSIDE CAN TAKE AWAY OUR PEACE

• Are we having peace inside us?
• How often do we say "I live in peace but so-and-so destroyed my peace" or "It has been a peace morning, but so-and-so destroyed my peace."
• The Lord said,  nothing from outside can defile us.
• Mark 7:15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile

 

 

    WHAT IS INSIDE OF US

WHAT RULES IN OUR HEARTS

• Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.
• Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• Phil 4:6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
• 2 Cor 13:11 Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 
• Rom 14:19 Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
  1 Peter 3:11 let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it.
  

 

 WHAT IS INSIDE WILL COME OUT

• Fr Bobby gave a story to bring home this point
  
• Say someone knocked into me and I spilled the cup of water I am holding.  I can either start complaining that that person has knocked me causing me to spill the cup of water, or we can think in another perspective - I have spilled the water because the cup contains water inside.  If the cup had tea, I would have spilled tea.
• Mark 7:20-23  And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
   

 THE SQUEEZE, AND WHAT COMES OUT

• Fr gave another example
• Squeezing a sponge may cause dirty water to come out.  Another sponge, when squeezed, may have clean water coming out.  Whether it is clean water or dirty water is not about the squeeze, it is about what is inside. 
  
• In life, there will always be people and circumstances which will "squeeze" us.
• It might almost be as if someone is appointed to "squeeze" us and test what is inside of us!  
• Sometimes it may even seems the appointed person or circumstance has a schedule -  to give us a "squeeze" morning, day and night, just to test if there were any changes with what is inside us.
• What is inside us will come out - for some of us it is anger, hatred, threats, complain.  Some, peace, joy, good cheer, praise. 

 

 WHAT IS INSIDE US COMES OUT

• We need to guard against accusing others of being the problem, that others are making us mad. 
• It is the the anger and the hatred inside of us that are coming out. 
• The people around us are only the "appointed testers" to "squeeze" us.
  
• Do not accuse others, recognise that we get angry because we have anger inside.  
• Jesus was "squeezed" to the max - stripped, scourged, humiliated, crucified.... yet not a negative word came out of Jesus, and instead, he spoke forgiveness
• Luke 23:34 - Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. 
• Love came out of Jesus when "squeezed".
  
• Those who have love inside, when tested, will bring forth love.

 

WHEN WE DO NOT HAVE JESUS INSIDE US

• What is inside of us will come out.  The problem is us.  Not others. 
• Nothing will destroy our peace because Jesus is our peace.
• People can do things to us and we find that our peace is destroyed, this is because Jesus is not inside us.
• We have not allowed Jesus to fill us. 

 

JESUS IS OUR SOURCE OF PEACE

 

 JESUS HAS OVERCOME ALL

• Jesus has overcome the world, and all its madness - the humiliation, rejections, financial woes, even death.  The Lord has overcome all.
• We do not need to be afraid, not even unto death.
• Death is the final healing, the perfect healing.  The death of God's saints is so precious to Him.
• John 16:33 I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
• Jesus said, I am peace, find peace in me.
• The world will make us suffer, but we can be a good cheer.

 

 OUR SOURCE OF PEACE

• Jesus is our source of peace, but we often substitute that with someone/something else.
• This is why we find ourselves losing peace.
• If a child die, we find ourselves losing peace because we have made the child our source of peace.

 

SURRENDER

• Surrender to God. Look at His ways. 
• Do not  let anything destroy our peace.
• The Lord has the perfect plan for us.
• No matter what comes, do not stop praising, for Jesus is our source of peace and joy.
  

 

JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF JOY

 

REJOICE IN THE LORD

• John 15:11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete
• The Kingdom of God is peace and joy
• We should rejoice in the Lord, not rejoice in people health, wealth...
• Rejoice in the giver, not the gifts.
• Find our joy in the Lord 
• Luke 2:10  the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 
• Mat 2:10 When they saw the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy
• Jesus is the source of true joy.
  

 

A GRAVE SIN

• If Jesus is our source of joy, then how can we be sad everyday?
• Making others as our source of joy is a grave sin.
• It is living against the Kingdom of God. 
• What is Jesus for us?
• What is the Kingdom of God for us?
• John 16:22 So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 
• Like God's martyrs, even unto death, rejoice! 

 

 

WHAT JESUS GIVES

WHAT THE WORLD OFFERS AND WHAT JESUS OFFERS

• The world will offer us 1001 reasons to be sad, to be sorrowful.
• The Lord offers us 1 reason to have joy, and that is Jesus.
• The Lord tells us to rejoice and be glad for He Himself is going to come and to dwell among us.
  
• Zac 2:10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord.
• We can have thousands of reasons to be sad and angry, but God says I am coming to dwell in you, rejoice!

 

GOD GIVES ACCORDING TO OUR CAPACITY TO BE JOYFUL 

• Psalm 37:4  Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
• God will give the desires of our heart according to our capacity of being joyful
• But so often we do not know God's way but our way -  we need our desires to be fulfilled before we rejoice
• Let us rejoice in the Lord for He is our source of joy, and then he will fulfill our hearts' desires.
  

 

 

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH

• Nehemiah 8:10 do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 
• The ability to be joyful in the Lord 
• Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
• Phil 1:18-19 And because of this I rejoice.  Yes, and I will continue to rejoice
• Paul continued to rejoice despite in prison and in chains.

 

Jesus is the source of our peace.

He is the source of our joy.

Jesus is our strength
And when we praise Him

every desire of our heart will be fulfilled. 

Day 1
Video: https://youtu.be/LGRh7r9rlBY
Notes: https://gratitude-thanksgiving.blogspot.com/2023/03/notes-taken-homily-given-by-rev-fr.html

Day 2
Video: https://youtu.be/hc9CfnAZvOM
Notes: https://gratitude-thanksgiving.blogspot.com/2023/03/notes-taken-homily-given-by-rev-fr_15.html

Day 3
Video: https://youtu.be/jHRMZGKYvwM
Part 1 Notes: https://gratitude-thanksgiving.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-word-of-god.html
Part 2 Notes: https://gratitude-thanksgiving.blogspot.com/2023/03/overcoming-evil-by-word-of-god.html